RANCHOS DE TAOS, TALPA, VICTOR GOLER STUDIO

San Francisco de Asís is an eighteenth-century National Historic Landmark on the plaza of Ranchos de Taos. It is mostly known for its sculptural buttresses represented in many paintings and photographs, but the front façade is also elegant and the interior is exquisite.

We also visit one of the parish’s missions, Nuestra Señora de San Juan de Los Lagos in Talpa, which houses exceptional works of historic santero art by Antonio Molleno.

At Santa Cruz the tour is guided by the parish historian, Guadalupe Tafoya. In Talpa we divide the group in two. Half walks with Guadalupe to the nearby studio of master santero Victor Goler, where he presents briefly and shows work in progress, and the other half remains at the mission with Frank Graziano, who presents on advocations of the Virgin Mary, miraculous images, and petitionary devotion, likewise briefly. We then switch so that everyone has both experiences.